There is disclosed in the AMP Engineering and Purchasing Guide, 1979 Edition, at pages 7-42 to 7-47, an electrical connector assembly known as the CHAMP ACTION PIN connector. This electrical connector assembly comprises a connector housing having a mating face and a terminal receiving second face, one or more rows of terminal receiving grooves along the housing interior and extending from the second face toward the mating face, and a row of electrical terminals mounted in each row of grooves. The terminals are elongate along their paths of insertion coinciding with the grooves, and longitudinal post portions of the terminals project outwardly of the second face for wedge mounting the terminals within apertures of a printed circuit board.
The described connector assembly is assembled by first press fitting the longitudinal post portions of the terminals into the apertures of the printed circuit board. This is accomplished with a special applicator tool while the terminals in each row are still fixed to a carrier strip, which is subsequently removed. Once the terminals are installed and the carrier strips removed, the connector housing is pressed into place to complete the assembly.
It would be advantageous to have the terminals assembled to the housing before insertion in the board; however, precautions must be taken to prevent dislodging the terminals from the connector assemblies during shipment in commerce, and during wedge mounting of the terminals in apertures of a printed circuit board. The present invention resides in a cover for the mating face of each connector assembly, the cover serving to guide the terminals on assembly into the connector housing and to retain them in position both prior to and during mounting on a circuit board.
According to the invention, therefore, an electrical connector assembly as defined above is characterized in that a cover assembly is removably assembled on the housing and has a rib facing each row of terminals and extending into the housing interior to retain and guide the terminals in and along the grooves as the terminals are moved along their paths of insertion to enter the housing from the second face. The cover impinges the mating face and retains the terminals in the grooves as a force is exerted against the cover to move the terminals along their paths of insertion into the apertures of the printed circuit board.
EP-A-0042692, not published before the filing date of the present application, (Article 54(3) EPC) discloses a cicuit board edge connector having elongate terminals which are inserted in a housing from the mating face. A tool received in the mating face engages the terminals to press longitudinal post portions projecting from the opposite face into apertures of a board. This connector is readily distinguished from the present invention insofar as the terminal receiving face and mating face are one and the same, which obviates even the possibility of a cover being assembled to the mating face during insertion of the terminals.
US-A-4,080,041 discloses a right angle connector having a retainer plate removably mounted to a housing; however, the plate is not fixed to the mating face of the connector, and further is not in place during assembly of the terminals to the housing. US-A-3,553,632 discloses a connector having a retaining member which is permanently fixed to the terminal receiving face of a housing after the terminals are received therein.
A better understanding of the invention will be apparent by way of example from the following description in conjunction with the drawings in which:
Referring first to Figure 1, there is shown an exploded view of an electrical connector assembly, i.e. electrical connector, incuding a cover 1 having depending ribs 3 and a housing 5 having terminals 7 therein. The terminals 7 would be readily pushed out of the housing 5 without the cover 1 being positioned in the housing as described hereinbelow. The assembly of cover 1, housing 5 and terminals 7 is shown in Figure 2.
Referring now to Figure 3, there is shown a cross-sectional view of the connector assembly of Figure 2. The cover is positioned within the housing 5 with the depending ribs 3 positioned against the inner wall seat 13 of the housing and with the top portion 31 of the cover abutting the mating connector-receiving mating face 33 of the housing 5. The cover also impinges against the end surface 34 of a central, electrical plug portion 15 of the housing 5. The portion 15 includes grooves 17, the ends of which terminate in the horizontal portions 14, and into which the ends of terminals 7 abut. The terminals 7 are resilient spring members and are forced resiliently toward and against the plug portion 15 by the depending ribs 3 which simulate a mating connector and apply forces against the terminals 7 to retain the terminals within the housing 5.
Referring now to Figures 4 and 4A, there is shown an exploded view of the connector assembly. It can be seen that the rows of the terminals 7 have projecting post portions 24 at the ends, and are carried by a carrier strip 35. Two rows of the terminals with carrier strips have their post portions 24 inserted into apertures (not numbered) in a block form insertion tool 19. The carrier strips are then removed. The cover 1 is inserted into the housing 5, the cover being shown in phantom in Figure 4 after insertion into the housing 5. The cover thereby is applied to the mating face of the connector housing 5 and simulates the shape of a mating connector. The insertion tool with two rows of terminals 7 thereon, after carrier strips 35 have been removed, are then moved toward the housing 5 whereby the terminals 7 enter the housing through the openings 21 in the terminal receiving end 37 of the housing. It can be seen that each of the terminals 7 has a narrow portion 27 and a wide portion 25 with the junction of these portions being shown as shoulders 29. As the terminals 7 enter the housing, the top ends of the narrow portions 27 will move along paths of insertion coinciding with the grooves 17 as shown in Figure 3 and abut the central plug portion 15. As can be seen from Figure 4A, the grooves 17 are recessed in the wall surfaces 61 or 63 on the central plug portion 16 and the grooves extend between the terminal receiving end 37, and the mating end 33. When the shoulders 29 impinge bottoms 22 of widened portions 20 of the openings 21, the terminals can no longer move toward the mating face 33 of the housing and are fully assembled in the housing.
As shown in Figure 3, the cover 1 has depending ribs 3 facing each row of terminals 7. The ribs 3 guide the terminals 7 during their insertion, so that the terminals are inserted in and along the grooves 17. Bowed surfaces 8 on the ribs 3 apply pressure against the outwardly bowed portions 6 of the terminals, forcing the terminals resiliently against the plug portion 15, so that the terminals are retained in place during shipment in commerce of the connector assembly.
The cover functions as a tool against which a force may be exerted to insert and wedge the terminals within apertures of a printed circuit board. The cover continues to hold the terminals in the housing as the terminals are inserted and wedged in the apertures. Further, the cover is forced to bear against the mating face of the housing when a force is applied to the cover. The housing 5, with terminals 7 and cover 1 therein, is mounted on a printed circuit board 9, by wedge mounting the post portions 24 of terminals 7 in apertures 11 which are aligned therewith, and by bolts 2 that secure the housing 5 to the printed circuit board 9, the bolts passing through apertures 23 in the housing and appropriate apertures 4 in the printed circuit board.
Referring now to Figure 5 there is shown a female version connector designed to mate with the connector of Figures 1 through 4. The mated connectors are shown in Figure 6. As can be seen in Figure 5, the terminals 7 in housing 49 are the same as terminals 7 of Figures 1 through 4 except that they are shown rotated 180 degrees in respect of Figures 1 through 4. Rows of grooves 43 are the same as openings 21 for the grooves 17. The cover 41 is positioned in the housing 49 impinging the mating end 65 thereof. The cover has a depending rib 51 to simulate a connector. The terminals 7 have post portions 24 that project out of the housing 49 at the terminal receiving end 67.
The connector of Figure 5 is assembled in the same manner as described with respect to the connector of Figure 4 except that the strips of terminals 7 are rotated 180 degrees in the insertion tool 19 prior to insertion of the terminals into the housing 49. Upon insertion of the terminals 7 into the housing 49, the depending rib 51 of the cover 41 will be engaged by the terminals, and the cover will guide the terminals 7 in and along the grooves 43 and against the walls 45 as shown in Figure 5. It can be seen that the housing 49 has an inner wall portion 53 that is impinged by the rib 51. The connector can then be assembled onto a printed circuit board 9 (Figure 6) in the manner described with regard to the embodiment of Figures 1 through 4. The cover 41 can be removed to permit connection of the female connector housing 49 with a mating male connector housing 5 as shown in Figure 6.
Referring now to Figure 6, the terminals 7 of male connector housing 5 are mated with terminals 7 of the female connector housing 49. It can be seen that the mating connectors have taken the place of covers 1 and 41. The connectors of Figure 6 can each be applied to a different circuit board 9, 9 so that interconnection between circuit boards may take place by mating together the connectors as shown in Figure 6.